“No Timetable” For Dennis Smith Jr.’s Return

The Dallas Mavericks could be without star rookie, Dennis Smith Jr., for more than two games.

On December 6th in Boston, the Dallas Mavericks went head-to-head with the Boston Celtics where they lost their 18th game of the season.

In the loss, Dennis Smith Jr. went down and came back up with a noticeable limp.

Smith Jr. would later be diagnosed with a left hip strain and the team announced that he would miss the next two games on the road trip in both Milwaukee and Minnesota.

Now, two games might not be it.

More from The Smoking Cuban

• Dallas Mavericks: Why Luka Doncic is underpaid in $207 million extension
• Dallas Mavericks: Tyrell Terry injures groin in summer league loss to Jazz
• Mavericks: How to maximize Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis pairing
• Dallas Mavericks: Did they do enough this offseason to jump into title contention?
• Mavericks: What to watch for as Dallas faces Utah Jazz in summer league

This is a little changeup from the initial word coming out of the Boston game.

With Smith Jr. being one of the cornerstones moving forward in the franchise and the Mavericks sitting with a 7-19 record, Dallas could elect to take the extreme caution route with Smith Jr.’s hip.

A similar approach seems to be taking place with Seth Curry as it was announced on October 7th that he would be out with a leg injury and re-evaluted weekly moving forward. It is now December 10th and Curry has yet to play a game for the Mavericks this regular season.

In addition to Curry, Josh McRoberts has yet to see the floor for the Mavericks due to injury and Dorian Finney-Smith has missed the last 11 games due to knee tendonitis.

Nerlens Noel is not with the team as he had surgery on his left thumb on Friday, December 8th.

Next: Dallas Needs to Make Room For Johnathan Motley

If Smith Jr. misses extended time, expect Yogi Ferrell and J.J. Barea to fill in for him moving forward.